Mayans

1. Mayans By:Steven G. Steve B. Jalen J. Angela H.Roxana C. Abraham O.

2. Maya create City-States The homeland of the maya stretched from southern Mexico into northern central america. The area include the dry scrub forest of the Yucatan Peninsula and the dense steamy jungles of southern Mexico and northern Guatemala. While the olmec were builiding their civilization along the gulf coast in the period from 1200 B.C to 400 B. The mayans were also evolving. They took on olmec influences blending tese with local customs. This is a picture of the Mayans.

3. Urban Centers The period from A.D 250 to 900 is known as the classic period of maya civilization. During this time, The Mayans built spectacular cities such as Tikal a major center in Northern Guatemala. Each of these independent city-states ruled by a god-king and serving as a center for religious ceremonies and trade. Maya cites featured giant pyramids, Temples, Palaces, and elaborate stone carving dedicated to the gods and to important rulers. This is a Mayan Pyramid.

4. Agriculture and trade support Cities Although the Maya city City-States were independent of each other, they were linked through alliances and trade. Cites exchanged their local products such as salt, fruit, Flint, feathers, shells and honey. They also trade craft goods like cotton textiles and jade ornaments.As in the rest of Mesoamerica, Agriculture provided the basis of Maya life. For years experts assumed that the maya practiced slash-and-burn methods. This involved the farmers clearing the land by burning existing vegetation and planting crops in the ashes. This is what it looks like after they burn the crops.

5. Kingdoms built on Dynasties Successful farming methods led to the accumulation of wealth and the development of social classes. The noble class, Which included priests and the leading warriors occupied the top rung of maya society. Below them came the merchants and those with specialized knowledge such as skilled artisans. Finally, at the bottom came the peasant majority. This is what a Mayan Priests looks like:

6. Religion Shapes Maya Life Religion influenced most aspects of Maya life. The Maya believed in many gods. The maya believed that each day was a living god whose behavior could be predicted with the help of a system of calendars. This is what a Mayan calendar looks like.

7. Religious Practices The Maya worshipped their gods in various ways. They prayed and made offerings of food, flowers and incense. They also pierced and cut their bodies and offered their blood, believing that this would nourish the gods. Sometimes the maya even carried out human sacrifices usually of captured enemies. That is a picture of somebody getting sacrificed to the Gods.

8. Math and Religion Maya religious beliefs also led to the development of the calendar, mathematics, and astronomy. The Maya believed that time was a burden carried on the back of a god. It was very important to have an accurate calendar to know which god was in charge of the day. The Mayans developed a 260 day religious calendar which consisted of thirteen 20 day months. The Mayans based their calendar on careful observations of the planets, sun and moon. The Mayan astronomers were able to attain such great precision by using a math system that included the concept of zero. This is a picture of the Mayan number system.

9. Written language preserves history The maya also developed the most advanced writing system in the ancient americas. Maya writing was consisted of about 800 hieroglyphics symbols. The maya used their writing system to record the important historical events caring their glyphs in stone or recording them in a bark paper book known as a codex. This is a picture of the Mayan alphabet,

10. Mysterious Maya Decline The remarkable history of the Maya ended in mystery. In the late 800's the maya suddenly abandoned many of their cities. No one knows exactly why this happened though experts offer several overlapping theories. By the 700's warfare had broken out among the various mayan city states. Increased warfare disrupted trade and produced economic hardship. In addition population growth and over farming may have damaged the environment and this led to food shortages famine and disease. As the maya civilization faded other people of mesoamerica were growing in strength. Like the maya these people would trace some of their ancestry to the olmec. This is a Picture of a Mayan City-State.

11. Summary Statement The homeland of the________stretched from Southern Mexico into Northern Central America. The period from______a.d to______a.d is known as the Classic Period of the Mayan civilization. During this time the Mayans built spectacular sites known as_____. The Mayans believed in many gods. They prayed and made offerings of ____,____ ,and______.The Mayans also had sacrifices. Mayan religious beliefs also led to the most advanced writing system in the ancient Americas

12. Quiz